


Five Feet Apart - How it Continues

by ImmediatelyWriting



Category: Five Feet Apart (2019)
Genre: Book - Freeform, CF, Chronic Illness, Continue, Cute, F/M, Fanfiction, Feels, Five Feet Apart Movie, Fluff, Happy Ending, I wanted to know how it continued, Inspired by Five Feet Apart, Inspired by Novel, Love, Missing Persons, Romance, Spoilers, Stella Grant - Freeform, Stella and Will, Will Newman - Freeform, about sickness, five feet apart, lungs, movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 11:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19356439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmediatelyWriting/pseuds/ImmediatelyWriting
Summary: Hello world!Ever wondered how life continues for Stella and Will after the ending of Five Feet Apart?I did, the exact moment after I saw the movie I wanted to know how their story continued. So with a little help of my best friend - also a writer (follow him on Instagram: https;//www.instragram.com/thebooklover2002/ ) - I wrote this short fanfiction about Stella and Will's life after Five Feet Apart.I answered the questions that I asked myself.How are they doing?Have they changed at all?How's Stella's life with her new lungs?And...Will they get together again?





	1. Chapter 1

**STELLA**

 

* * *

  
  
 “Human touch.

Our first form of communication.

Safety, security, comfort, all in the gentle caress of a finger. Or the brush of lips on a soft cheek.

It connects us when we're happy, bolsters us in times of fear, excites us in times of passion and love.”

I swallow hard and have to clamp my jaws together to keep my tears in. I clear my throat and try to focus on the camera again.

“We need that touch from the one we love almost as much as we need air to breathe. But I never understood the importance of touch.”

Now I can no longer hold my tears. His blue eyes pierce my thoughts and they cause a lot of pain. Since Will left me, I tried to remember the feeling of his fingers on my shoulders. His fingers that tried to comfort me when Poe died.

“His touch.”

A tear rolls down my cheek and I try to make this moment as special as possible. I want Will to know that I still love him.

“Until I couldn't have it. So if you’re watching this and you’re able. Touch him. Touch her. Live’s too short to waste a second.”

I push the _off-button_ of my camera and sigh.

It feels weird being in the hospital without Poe’s jokes to laugh about or Will to love in times of loneliness.

That’s also why I’m pretty relieved about today; My new lungs are working really good. They seem to work for about hundred per cent, which is really nice since I can breath flawlessly again. This means that I can go back home this evening.

While I try to upload the video, my gaze falls on a sheet of paper that is lying on my med car with a beautiful yellow bow. I clear my throat again and feel the tears come again. It is the ribbon that Will used for his gift when I left the operation.

Why is it so hard that Will is gone?

I calm my head down and get out of bed.

My gaze glides over the wall with drawings of Will that I have hung up so that I no longer have to feel alone in this slow time. I have to get all of them down today, since this isn’t going to be my room anymore – for the next five years at least.

I connect my camera with my laptop and start a live-stream on Youtube. With-in a few second a few people are watching and I know I have to act like I’m at least a little bit happy about leaving the hospital – I haven’t said a word about Poe dying and Will leaving this hospital on my Youtube channel, because people might pity me.

“Hello world!” I loudly say, trying to sound cheerful. “So, as you see my room is a mess. And that's a lot. As you know, I hate clutter, so it is hard for me to see it this way.”

I gesture at room behind me, things are laying on the floor and my bed is partly covered in clothes that I still need to fit in my suitcases.

“That’s because…”

I tap with my hands on the ground to imitate the sound of a drumroll.

“… I’ll be leaving the hospital today! Yes, you heard that right. I’ll be leaving! A few days ago I had a lung-transplant that I needed to recover from, but since these lungs are working really good, I don’t have to stay here any-more!”

People are starting to leave comments on the video. I can read happy ones, confused ones and all kinds of questions that people have. I’m not going to answer any of the questions, because I just wanted to go live to have someone to talk to while emptying my room and filling my suitcases.

“So, as you all might know, with leaving the hospital comes emptying my room,” I explain. “I’m just going to put everything in my suitcase and I’ll be back after that!”

I turn off the camera, because I’ve realised that I’m not at all in the mood to talk to a camera while emptying my room.

I get up and start taking down all the drawings that are on my wall. I hold one of Will’s drawings in my hand and I feel how a tear rolls over my cheek.

My finger glides over the cartoon he drew for me when he pressed my nose to the fact. The letters that make the word "sorry" have much more meaning for us than the word initially makes.

He hasn’t told me where he’s gone to, but I know he must’ve gone to another hospital. Maybe they have found a treatment for him that does work or maybe he stopped getting treatments completely.

I can't think like that at all, but Will's lack drives me completely crazy!

I have many questions I’d want to ask him, but I whenever I call him he never answers his phone.

I close my eyes and feel how my tears start running over my cheeks even faster.

_Is he okay?_

Don't kid, Stella. He's fine

_Is he even still alive?_

Stop it, Stella. You can't think like that.

_Is he taking his meds?_

Stop, Stella.

_Does he even still have meds to take?_

Stop! The thoughts echo through my mind, while I tighten my grib on the piece of paper. Life goes on. My life goes on. Will left me to protect me, respect that. I will always love him. I will always miss him.

_Does he miss me as much as I miss him?_

I roll my eyes and roll his cartoon into a role while listening to my breathing. A breath that sounds normal without all the mucus ...

I miss you, Will.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**WILL**

* * *

  
  
Another day has passed by without Stella’s gloved hand holding mine. I moved back into my mother’s house, because the treatment wasn’t working anyway. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. I did not leave at all because the medi-cation did not work. I left because Stella can't get a life with me in it. It has always been that way.

That was clear from day one.

We are not meant for each other. We cannot give each other what we deserve.I still need to take meds unfortunately, but there’s no way I’ll be recovering from B. Cepacia.

That’s why I took Stella’s old-fashioned idea of making a todo-list. My plan is to do everything that is on my list before this year ends, so I – hopefully – can be sure that I’ve done everything that I want to do before I die.

I stare at the page of my notebook and tighten my grib around my pencil. I’ve written down a few things already like travelling around the world, make sure that I take my meds every day and make an entire comic-book about everything that I’ll do in the restaining part of my life. I smile when I see Stella in front of me. Sweat after our training session. She told me her todo list and I told mine - which she laughed at completely. I am surprised that the majority has changed.

My life has changed.

And that is all because of her. Stella. The sweet and spicy Stella. That smile. Her smile when I pronounced Bob Ross’ name gives me so much satisfaction. I don't regret my choice. She is safe and will get her life. That life she wanted from day one.

My phone beebs and I drop my pencil.

It’s Stella…

She tries calling me every day, but I never pick up. I don’t pick up this time either, so I let my phone jump onto voicemail. It is better to break the contact so that we are not tempted to see each other. Or maybe less than five steps apart.  

That is too dangerous.

Too risky.

I glance at number two on my todo-list: Have the currage to pick up my phone when Stella calls.

I don’t know if I’ll ever dare to pick up. I don’t want her to miss me in any possible way. I want her to forget me, eventhough I also want her to remember me.

She deserves her life. She deserves a boy who can touch her without causing problems.

Jealousy bubbles up in my chest at the thought that Stella walks hand in hand with a boy who is not me.

I spit a mucus of slime and let it slip out of my mouth into my mother's favorite planter that she has placed next to my desk, so that there is something green in my room. Ohh, I'd like to see her face if she finds it that way.

I hear the voice-mail cutting out and decide to listen to what she has to say.

“Will, why aren’t you picking up your phone?” She sounds like she’s been crying, her voice rough and it breaks with every word that she says. “Anyway, I thought you’d like to know that I’m moving out of the hospital and that I’ll have lots of time off since I’m not going back to school yet. I was hoping that you – maybe – would like to call or face-time when I’m back home. I’m dying to know how you’re doing. Well…” She stays silent for a few second and I hear a sigh. “… call me.”

The voice-mail cuts out and Stella’s beautiful voice gets erased from my phone automaticly.

I close my eyes and lean with my head on my desk. The tubes in my nose are – kind of – in the way, but I’ve been needing them more to breath lately. It’s like my lungs are working worse than before.

I sigh, followed by a painful cough.

I get what Stella is saying, about wanting to talk to me. But talking with her would make me want to see her even more.

Maybe it sounds selfish, but I can’t bear talking to her and needing to stay away from her at the same time. I just really can’t, we must keep living and going on without each other.

We must both forget.


	3. Chapter 3

           **STELLA**

* * *

  
  


  “Surprise!” my mother yells in my ear while I look at the present that’s lying on the table. I smile at her and watch how her eyes tear up.

  “Thank you,” I say and I give her a careful hug. “You shouldn’t have baught a present.”

  “You deserve it after everything you’ve been through,” my mother replies with a smile, but I think she chose the wrong words.

  _Everything I’ve been through._ A little voice in my mind repeats. _Poe’s death, Will leaving me behind, knowing that I’ll probably die as soon as these lungs stop working. Yeah, I’ve been through a lot in the last weeks, but she doesn’t have to remind me of that._

I feel a finger on my cheek and I realise that I’ve started to cry. I smile at her, rubbing with my hand in my eyes to get the tears away. She hands me over the present, it’s a small box. It’s not heavy and it’s packed in a baby-blue wrapping paper. A color that makes me think of someone ...

I carefully unpack it. Under the wrapping paper there’s a small box. It’s made of cardbord and painted it different shades of blue and purple. I open the box with care and glance at my mother when I see what’s inside.

  “An air ticket to Japan?” I confusedly ask. I stare open-mouthed at the ticket in the box.

How?!

I give a shriek of joy and lightly jump up and down. After everything was CF has taken me away do I get this back? Boom CF, you are no longer the thief! I am!  
Mom chuckles and puts her arm over my shoulders. I let the familiar feeling sink in. If only Abby could see this ... A tear rolls down my cheek. She would have been proud of me.

  “Yes, you wanted to travel around the world, didn’t you?” my mother asks and I wonder how she knows while I’ve never told her. “So why not start in Japan?”

  “How do you know I wanted to travel?”  I ask surprised.

  “I might’ve taken a look at your master todo-list,” my mother replies with a huge grin on her face. She shrugs her shoulders innocently and it causes my head to fold back a little. I think back to the moment when I added that to my master todo list. It was right after Will and I went training and I read my master todo-list to him out loud.

  “Isn’t Japan too far away? I mean we don’t know how much these new lungs can handle,” I ask and my mother immediately shakes her head. I am not waiting for a blow, because to be honest I am already getting used to it. Slowly I breathe in. I just can't believe I can do this without spitting a blob of slime.  
  “I talked it over with Barb and she said that traveling by plane shouldn’t be a problem.” She smiles.   
I look at the date on the plane tickets and take a deep breath.  “Tomorrow? That fast?” I ask, I start to wonder if my mother already regrets buying me this present.

  “Yes, so leave your packed clothes in your suitcase,” my mom cheerfully says. “because you’re going to Japan tomorrow.”

  “Wait… You’re not coming with me?”  
 My mother sadly glances away and her eyes tear up. I prefer to address her. The last few years have already cost a lot of tears and I don't want us to waste any   
more. She takes a deep breath and takes my head in her hands. A small smile takes over her grief and I already feel it coming.  
  “Sorry, I’m not,” she says. “I think you should go yourself.”

I move and let my ticket lay on the table next to me. All the time I spent in the hospital wasted all my time that I could spend with my parents. I want us to finally be able to catch up with everything we have missed.   
 I clear my throat and look at Mom questioningly. “Why?”

My mother doesn’t reply to my question and gives me a hug. I think she’s acting weird, she can’t be serious. What if something happens to me? What if I just don't come back… like Abby? Fear takes over and I shake my head violently.

   Stay calm, Stella.

"I want you to come, Mom."

She smiles and puts her hand on my cheek while she bites her cheek. What are they up to?

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**WILL**

* * *

  
  


I’m on the airport, waiting for my plane to arive. I wasn’t planning on travelling around the world this fast, but my mother bought me a air ticket to Japan and called it “a late birthday present”.

As if the political cartoon from the 1940s was not enough. Come on. He was signed!

I smile when I think back to the fight we had made beforehand. I am pleased that she still loves me, even though she has not always been there for me. She was there more often than my father.

I thought she was acting weird, we don’t even know if my lungs can handle a plane-flieght. For all I know they could just implode when I’m so high from the ground.

The loudspeaker in the airport terminal comes creaking to life, a muffled voice penetrates my music. I take off one of my ear plugs to better understand the message.

Deep inside, I hope it's not about my flight. Because I am not waiting for a gate change to walk to the other side of the airport.

As soon as I realize that it is about a flight to Amsterdam, I push my earplug in again and start up YouTube. Stella's face appears on my "reviewable" list.

Smiling, I press the film and look at it again for the thousandest time. If YouTube could keep track of how often you watch a video again, the counter would explode.

Jesus, I am really a stalker ...

I smile when Stella appears in my image with her braces. She stands before the NICU with Barb told her. Her high voice burns through bone and bone and I can't resist pausing the video to touch her face.

“Will?”

A female voice wakes me up from my thoughts.

I turn around and gasp. The gasp causes me to – almost – choke and I start coughing.

I try to find the owner of that voice, but without success. Where does that voice come from and how does it know my name? If it's meant for me at all.

Tears jump in my eyes from coughing and mucus settles in my throat. I stand up and take a deep breath as the strap of my portable oxygen concentrator pulls further on my lean shoulder, but my breath almost immediately gets stuck in my throat when I hear a familiar smile – kind of a chuckle to be honest.

Above the sound that proves that the airport is alive, I hear the most beautiful sound in the world. Her laugh. I look at the display of my phone, I am convinced that the video is still on and I am turning all the way. But the screen is dark and the sound comes close.

Far too close ...

It takes me about eight seconds to spot her brown eyes, and I'm not surprised that when I do that, her eyes look straight into mine.

  “Stella?” I asks in between the coughs.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” Stella says and she wants to take a step closer.

I get up from the couch, almost falling onto the ground because of my lack of air.

  “Stay away from me, Stella!” I yell, walking backwards to get away from her. “Get my infection and I might kill you, remember?”

Stella stands still and I now see that she’s crying.  “I don’t care,” she whispers.

  “Yes, you do!” I say and I look in her eyes. “You do care, you can’t die, reme-mber? You just can’t, your parents.”

Stella shakes her head and she takes a step closer.

  “That’s just surviver’s guilt,” she whispers and she takes another step closer.

I’m nailed onto the floor. I don’t know her like this. She used to do anything to stay alive, but now she’s ready to get so close to me that she might die. She might die because of me if she takes another step closer.

  “Stella…”

  “No, Will,” Stella says and she looks into my eyes. “I want to be with you. I want to travel with you…”

I shake my head, seeing her is more painfull than I could ever amagine.

  “… And if I catch your infection, then it’s life. It’s over before you know it anyway, better live it with someone you love.”  
 "I've never heard you say that before."

She smiles and unfolds the support of her suitcase. "I learned that from the best.”  
  She stays silent for a second. I’m nailed onto the ground, tears are running over my cheeks. How can she say such things? She knows I can’t let her die, I’ll have to live my last days with guilt if she dies because of _my_ infection.

  “Five feet apart,” Stella says and she smiles. “Are you in?”

I want to shake my head, but I nod. I’ll live with guilt anyway, so why don’t I try to make her happy.  
  _You're crazy, Will._

Stella smiles and I can’t help smiling back at her. I missed those pink, full lips. I take a deep breath and smile. Is this a dream? If so, I never want to wake up again.

  “But not an inch closer,” I say.

  “No, five feet apart,” Stella replies. “at all time.”

**_The End._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  Thank you for reading my Five Feet Apart fanfiction!
> 
> -ImmediatelyWriting

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> Thank you for reading the first chapter of this 4 chapter fanfiction!
> 
>   - ImmediatelyWriting


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